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Microsoft might unveil Windows 9 in April to end Windows 8 woes
The Inquirer ^ | 01/13/2014 | Chris Merriman

Posted on 01/13/2014 11:40:15 AM PST by SeekAndFind

SOFTWARE COBBLER Microsoft might be ready to abandon Windows 8 earlier than it planned in an attempt to reverse the slide in its fortunes.

The company might announce Windows 9 as early as April, reports claim, as it tries to distance itself from the poorly received Windows 8.

We reported on Friday that the Threshold project was being tipped as a major update for Windows 8, however according to Winsupersite it will instead be billed as a new Windows operating system version slated for release in April 2015.

Although the launch of Windows 8 has not been the disaster that Windows Vista was, this would confirm that Windows 8 has been another failure for the company and make Windows 9 another "do or die" product for Microsoft like Windows 7.

Big changes are likely to be in store for the new "Modern" interface that has been criticised for its lack of integration with the traditional Windows desktop environment. Many aspects of the "Modern" user interface have a tacked on feel to traditional Windows PC users, but without enough innovation to lure new ones.

Other major changes that have alienated users include the withdrawal of support for DVD playback out of the box, which is now a premium feature limited to Professional Edition users. Perhaps the most discussed change, however is the removal of the traditional Start Menu, which Microsoft considered uncecessary but has been the subject of a continuing campaign by users lobbying for its return.

A Start Button was reintroduced in Windows 8.1 along with a host of other features designed to answer the many critics of the operating system, however the new Start Button is simply a toggle switch between the "Modern" and traditional Windows Desktop interfaces and has failed to placate most users.

Paul Thurrott, the blogger who runs Winsupersite said that work on Windows 9 has not yet begun, so there will be no early version of it available at Microsoft's Build conference in April, although it's likely that there will be opportunities to work with the upgrade that's been leaked for the Windows 8.1 service pack.



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: microsoft; windows; windows8; windows9
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To: circlecity
they pretty much spaz out when confronted with that magnitude of change

Gee, I guess all the businesses that employ those workers should just allow then a few weeks of playing around time to "figure out how to work the thing" at the business owner's expense. No problem for you, Mr. "computer savvy", or for Microsoft, eh??

81 posted on 01/13/2014 2:09:49 PM PST by Notary Sojac (Mi tio es enfermo, pero la carretera es verde!)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

I know how they could do that - people could put the programs they use in a system variable called PATH, then put that in a file called AUTOEXEC.BAT, then put all the drivers they use in a file called CONFIG.SYS.


82 posted on 01/13/2014 2:39:24 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: Notary Sojac
"No problem for you, Mr. "computer savvy", or for Microsoft, eh??"

But MS is going to make everything right by making you buy a new OS less than a year after buying the last OS to remedy all these totally foreseeable problems inflicted on their most loyal user base. Some things never change.

83 posted on 01/13/2014 2:46:55 PM PST by circlecity
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To: SeekAndFind

bump


84 posted on 01/13/2014 2:48:40 PM PST by dangerdoc (I don't think you should be forced to make the same decision I did even if I know I'm right.)
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To: Ingtar

I just googled whatever minor adjustments I wanted to make in 8.1, for instance skipping sign in and booting directly to desktop.

I like being able to use the hidden start page to hide all my desktop icons, yet be able to access them easily when I want.


85 posted on 01/13/2014 2:57:33 PM PST by ansel12
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To: Graewoulf

Why thank you!


86 posted on 01/13/2014 3:03:12 PM PST by LibLieSlayer (FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS! BETTER DEAD THAN RED!)
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To: SeekAndFind

I find Windows 8.1 very stab;e, but I wish the entire useless Metro-styled sections could be shut off on desktops/laptops. Who likes this dumbed-down interface?


87 posted on 01/13/2014 3:51:53 PM PST by montag813
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

You should try mint 16 petra . I tried mint 13, 14, 15, but stuck with 12 until mint 16. don’t think I have booted into windows in a year or so.


88 posted on 01/13/2014 4:31:59 PM PST by sopwith (LIVE FREE OR DIE)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts

Just six months ago I fired up the old IBM pc jr. for kicks.


89 posted on 01/13/2014 4:35:51 PM PST by sopwith (LIVE FREE OR DIE)
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To: oldbill
Windows 8, Vista. Seems like every other Microsoft OS is a failure.

Including Windows ME between 98/SE and XP. In that respect Microsoft is consistent. Every other OS is a piece of junk. Second thing is MS has yet to ever admit and apologize to customers for their huge mistakes.

90 posted on 01/13/2014 4:43:43 PM PST by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: Psalm 73
> Why oh why did they ever do Windows 7/8?

I think you're confused. Windows 7 is terrific. Its predecessor, Vista, was horrible and a disaster for Microsoft, and Windows 8 is rapidly becoming as big a disaster.

But Win 7 rocks solid.

91 posted on 01/13/2014 5:08:34 PM PST by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: VanDeKoik
> Stand by and wait for the usual cast of Mac fanboys, Linux nutters, and the classic “OMG I love Windows XP” curmudgeons to do their usual monkey dance. Add a couple of people who still aren’t able to learn how to use it, and you have the makings of the typical Windows 8 FR post.

Ah, welcome, VanDeKoik, I just KNEW that as our resident Windows fanboi, you'd simply HAVE to stop by this thread and spread the love around.

It doesn't require any of the persons you list above to have a perfectly good "Trash Windows 8" FR thread. The poor schmucks who have had Win 8 shoved down their throats on newly-purchased desktops are entirely capable of writing even more blistering condemnations than anyone else.

Please... if you think those of us who use and love Win 7 every day are staying with it because "we aren't able to learn how to use Win 8", think again. It's because, for us at least, Win 8 has NOTHING to offer beyond wasted time and frustration. Win 7 rocks solid and it will stay on my systems until something BETTER comes along.

P.S. Are you SURE you're not Steve Ballmer in drag? Please check again. :)

92 posted on 01/13/2014 5:19:02 PM PST by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: dayglored
"I think you're confused. Windows 7 is terrific."

My dislike has nothing to do with its inherent functionality - it's the "new" set-up that irks me.
I miss the standard dropdowns and don't like the way the open windows look and act - I want everything the way it was - I'm too old to keep learning a new set-up every few years - 7 is not XP.

93 posted on 01/13/2014 5:32:45 PM PST by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: SeekAndFind

"And if you don't like Windows 9...no worries. We shall soon have Windows 10 which will fix all the problems in Windows 9"


94 posted on 01/13/2014 5:40:02 PM PST by SamAdams76
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To: SeekAndFind

I’ve been using Win 8 then 8.1 for months. It would have been a winner if they had designed it be a desktop and run Metro apps in windows rather that treat the the desktop like a crazy aunt kept hidden in the attic.

Phones and tablets run full screen apps because they don’t have the assets to run a windowed environment not because fullscreen is better.

I’m old enough to remember DOS. I’m also old enough to remember that great moment when I could put DOS in a window, open another program and look at both at the same time, it was liberating. Why does anybody want to go back?


95 posted on 01/13/2014 5:52:29 PM PST by dangerdoc (I don't think you should be forced to make the same decision I did even if I know I'm right.)
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To: Psalm 73
> I want everything the way it was - I'm too old to keep learning a new set-up every few years - 7 is not XP.

If you spend about 5 minutes with the desktop personalization and taskbar/start-menu settings, you can get Win7 to look and almost feel like XP. It's not exactly the same, but it's real close in most important respects.

Personally I like the Windows 2000 look, what Microsoft calls the "Classic Windows" look. XP's default theme is way too "Fisher Price" for me. So the first thing I did with my XP systems was brain damage them back into Win2K mode.

Then, when Win7 came along, I found I could do the same by using the Classic Start Menu, making a few tweaks, and choosing the Windows Classic theme for the desktop.

I have had people come over to where I'm working on Win7 and say "Hey, what are you doing with Windows 2000?" and I have to laugh.

The only thing I can't get to be like XP that bugs me is Windows Explorer. The Win7 (actually Vista) version sucks and I hate it I hate it I hate it. So I went and got a third-party Explorer that works just like XP's version.

96 posted on 01/13/2014 5:59:41 PM PST by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is...sounding pretty good about now.)
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To: Dead Corpse

True. The average user doesn’t care about the admin side, hence the reason it has failed so miserably.


97 posted on 01/13/2014 6:24:51 PM PST by matt04
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To: sopwith

I didn’t find a compatible Ubuntu version on the Virtual Box website so I went with 15. I will probably move up as things change.


98 posted on 01/13/2014 6:46:52 PM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts ("The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." - George Orwell)
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To: sopwith

I do that with my Atari 800XL from time to time. I’m still amazed that the software on those 5.25 disks is still usable.


99 posted on 01/13/2014 6:48:20 PM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts ("The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." - George Orwell)
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To: dayglored

I always run my machines in “classic Mode”. It is the cleanest for me and it did help keep a consistent interface between the various computers I once had.

I used to have up to 10 machines at home running cancer research using old semi-retired machines. Those are all completely gone now leaving me with just two to maintain.

One of my two is our media server running XBMC under win 7 Home Premium.

My own personal machine runs win 7 Pro on a GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5 AM3+ AMD 990FX Motherboard with an AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz Eight-Core Desktop Processor.

I find that the AMD processors give the best value for the money. I don’t play many intense games but I do a lot of video editing and compressing which requires the horsepower.

Sometime next year my current machine will become the media server after being replaced by the latest and greatest AMD processor running at a higher speed with perhaps 16 cores.

I’ve been working with main frame computers from 1967 until an early retirement back in December 2000 caused by an auto accident. During my career I also served as a PC coordinator at a major telecom company.

My computer background lead to me building PCs for myself and others. The need to keep things consistent across multiple OSs lead to me adopting the classic look.


100 posted on 01/13/2014 7:08:34 PM PST by dglang
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